EU's Tusk warns of risks in rise of U.S. tech giants

The front desk of the Amazon office is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York, U.S., May 1, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

WARSAW (Reuters) - The world needs to be wary of the rise of tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, comparing their powers to those of countries such as China, European Council President Donald Tusk said in Warsaw on Friday.

"In the East, we see the rise of those capable of controlling everyone's behavior, and in the West we've seen the rise of an uncontrolled, spontaneous empire," Tusk said in Warsaw in reference to the companies during a speech marking Constitution Day.

"Our children are dependent on the internet and everyday will become more dependent on it," he added.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Apple is seen at a store in Zurich, Switzerland January 3, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann -/File Photo

The European Union has been in the forefront of efforts to tighten control on how social media companies handle the personal data of consumers, with rules introduced last May giving regulators the power to impose fines of up to 4 percent of global revenue for violations.

FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

(Reporting by Alicja Ptak, Writing by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Keith Weir)

A Facebook logo is pictured on an Apple's Ipad in Bordeaux, southwestern France, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/Illustration